is gardening, sewing, and planning...

I've been working on some projects lately and I keep saying that I'll post them on my blog. So here they finally are! I don't have much to say otherwise except for a short update:

I am plodding along at work. I've only got two months left. It's not too bad lately, just a little boring. Seminary is fine. I won't miss waking up at 6:00am, but I will miss the kids come June. My missionary has about seven months left on his mission too! It's amazing. I can't believe there's so little time left. I'm putting together a little birthday present for him, which I'll send off in a week or so. I'm also working on his homecoming quilt. Keep that on the DL, though, it's a surprise. :) 

Let's take a peek at some of the projects I've been working on:

The garden

A couple weeks ago my dad and I ripped our old deck apart and turned it into five planter boxes. I like how rustic they look. Plus, that's super sustainable, right? Anyhow, this is a view of some romaine lettuce starts. We didn't plant much from seed this year. It's just been so cold. And we were a little lazy about it. You can also see the herb garden in the back corner and some tomatoes next to them in the box on the left. I hope the sun comes out soon...

Phillip's birthday present

This is the front.

This is the back. Look in the corner... aww. I know, cheesy. I can't help myself.

It's a mini quilt since I can't send him a full size one. My brother says it looks like a pot holder. Hmm... Well, at least he'll think of me when he gets his cookies out of the oven.

I also found this great tie at Nordstrom's Rack. I think it has just the right amount of interest, but it's not too flashy for a missionary. I hope it puts a spring in his step when he wears it.

Phillip's quilt

I finally got the top pieced about a month ago! It's been a slow process, but I expected it to take a while because this is my first "serious" quilt. I think I will be done quilting it by the end of summer. I'm going to hand quilt the entire top because I don't want it to look too commercial. I want it to have that nice homemade folksy look.

Here's a view from the corner. I named this quilt "Roots and Wings" because the houses are the roots and the corner pieces (called "flying geese") are the wings.

Here's a little preview of what the quilting is going to look like. I just started quilting it together last night and for now I'm stitching around every other circle in the pattern around the border. On the burgundy patches I'll quilt a little celtic knot design, I think. My hand is already killing me! But it's worth it.

That's what I've been up to my dear friends. Oh, and I miss you too.